Title: Cinders
Author: Michelle Davidson Argyle
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased (Amazon Kindle)
Description: Cinderella's happily-ever-after isn't turning out the way she expected. With her fairy godmother imprisoned in the castle and a mysterious stranger haunting her dreams, Cinderella is on her own to discover true love untainted by magic.
Review: Michelle Davidson Argyle expands upon the fairytale’s happily-ever-after—or not—in her take on Cinderella in Cinders.
Cinderella has her prince and everything her heart desired, or so she thought. A mysterious stranger haunts her dreams, the kingdom is in trouble under her parents-in-law’s iron-gripped rule, and her prince is sweet, but she ponders whether or not he loves her or if it is just the spell that fuels his desire. She must find her own magic and what her heart truly desires or she might lose everything she holds dear.
Michelle Davidson Argyle’s Cinders is not your Disney’s Cinderella. Argyle weaves a tale of dark beauty where there is no happily ever after, but dreams can still come true. An ancient, mysterious feel embodies this novella. Fairies, elves, and sprites sprinkle through the pages. Pure magic embodies Cinderella, but areas of gray rule. Cinders is almost tragic. Argyle’s prose entrances the reader, and I’m not sure the spell is quite broken yet after finishing this novella. Cinderella is real, flawed, yet beautiful. I loved how Argyle took me through her “ever after” version.
Cinders is what fairytales should be.
